1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates sports practice aids and, more particularly, is concerned with a multi-sports net.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To develope skill in a particular sport, an individual must spend a considerable amount of time in practicing the basic techniques required by the sport. Public and private facilities for playing sports and for practicing basic sports techniques are widespread but are typically heavily utilized and oftentimes expensive to join and use. Also, frequent use of these facilities by members of a family to practice and play sports means that a considerable amount of time will be spent away from home, resulting in a corresponding undesirable diminution in amount of time the family members can spend together.
Among the most popular sports games played by members of a typical sports-minded family are volleyball, badminton, tennis, soccer, baseball, softball, basketball and football. Skillful play of these sports requires that individuals have the ability to accurately pitch, throw, hit or kick balls at targets, such as a strike zone, another player, or a place on a court.
Heretofore, practice aids designed for particular sports have been proposed. For example, different aids for practicing skill in pitching, throwing, hitting and kicking balls employed in different sports, are known in the prior patent art. Representative examples of the prior art sports aids are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,166 to Becera et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,272 to Lay, U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,185 to Bartasius, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,461 to Borazjani. While these prior art sports practice aids may function reasonably well under the limited range of conditions for which they were designed, none appears to have the versatility desired to meet the requirements of all members of a typical sports family. Having on hand a different sports practice aid for each different sport played by each family members requires that sufficient space be available in which to use and store the equipment and entails the expenditure of a considerable amount of money to purchase the equipment.
Thus, a need still exists for a versatile sports aid which will be useful in practicing and playing different sports.